Helping Loose Ends Meet? The Judicial Acknowledgement of Soft Law as a Tool of Multi-Level Governance

TY - JOUR

T1 - Helping Loose Ends Meet? The Judicial Acknowledgement of Soft Law as a Tool of Multi-Level Governance

AU - Ştefan, Oana

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - In the established multi-level governance system of the European Union, the Court of Justice was instrumental in framing a supranational constitution. During the recent years, a vast variety of soft law and soft methods of governance were put in place, ‘loosely’ binding together the different layers of EU governance. While the Union Courts sometimes engage with such instruments and methods, they fail to acknowledge important consequences that soft law can have on the rights and obligations of individuals. This approach can have a negative impact on the justiciability of soft law, creating the premises for a vast body of EU instruments to escape judicial control. Furthermore, in the absence of judicial recognition, soft law fails to accomplish some of its key objectives, such as fostering legal certainty, transparency, and the consistent application of rules in the EU multi-level governance system.

AB - In the established multi-level governance system of the European Union, the Court of Justice was instrumental in framing a supranational constitution. During the recent years, a vast variety of soft law and soft methods of governance were put in place, ‘loosely’ binding together the different layers of EU governance. While the Union Courts sometimes engage with such instruments and methods, they fail to acknowledge important consequences that soft law can have on the rights and obligations of individuals. This approach can have a negative impact on the justiciability of soft law, creating the premises for a vast body of EU instruments to escape judicial control. Furthermore, in the absence of judicial recognition, soft law fails to accomplish some of its key objectives, such as fostering legal certainty, transparency, and the consistent application of rules in the EU multi-level governance system.

U2 - 10.1177%2F1023263X1402100209

DO - 10.1177%2F1023263X1402100209

M3 - Article

SN - 1023-263X

VL - 21

SP - 359

EP - 379

JO - Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law

JF - Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law

IS - 2

ER -